Hi,

A Japanese "tea" named Amacha (or also Buddha Tea) is made
of Hortensia leaves. It has a very sweet taste of liquorice.

I see that it naturally contains dulcin.

However, dulcin is a sugar substitute that is said to be
dangerous (possible carcinogenic properties, and dependency)
Is it the same for the natural dulcin in Amacha?

Have you ever heard something about the dangerosity of Amacha and
its consumption?

Thanks beforehand,

--
Julien ÉLIE

« Give laugh to all but smile to one,
Give cheeks to all but lips to one,
Give love to all but Heart to one,
Let everybody love you
But you love one. »

In the past I would have told you to ask in alt.folklore.herbs.
Unfortunately it has been obliterated by everything and anything but a
discussion of herbs. This group is still good for asking about
typical dried flowers and fruit added to tea. We do have people who
are familiar with Japanese teas so maybe they came across this herb.

Jim

On Apr 8, 4:27 am, Julien ÉLIE >
wrote:
> Hi,
>
> A Japanese "tea" named Amacha (or also Buddha Tea) is made
> of Hortensia leaves. It has a very sweet taste of liquorice.
>
> I see that it naturally contains dulcin.
>
> However, dulcin is a sugar substitute that is said to be
> dangerous (possible carcinogenic properties, and dependency)
> Is it the same for the natural dulcin in Amacha?
>
> Have you ever heard something about the dangerosity of Amacha and
> its consumption?
>
> Thanks beforehand,
>
> --
> Julien LIE
>
> Give laugh to all but smile to one,
> Give cheeks to all but lips to one,
> Give love to all but Heart to one,
> Let everybody love you
> But you love one.

Hi--

For what it is worth, the Japanese Wikipedia mentions the phyllo-
dulcin, but does not report health concerns about drinking this tea.

Amacha, in Japanese, is literally sweet (ama) tea (cha).

I suspect the concern is about the highly concentrated phyllo-dulcin
extract rather than the amacha itself. Also, it does not seem that
this is a wildly popular drink in Japan. I lived in Japan for 6
years, but never heard of it except for its ritual use in bathing
statues of the just-born historical Buddha in April. There are
apparently certain regions where people drink it regularly, though
this would certainly be a small population.

For anybody who was confused (as I was), "hortensia" is another name
for what I have always called "hydrangea."

james-henry holland

sorry i have never heard of it. maybe you can try some healthier tea which is safe.

Thanks all for your answers.

> For what it is worth, the Japanese Wikipedia mentions the phyllo-
> dulcin, but does not report health concerns about drinking this tea.

Which does not mean there is no health concerns :-/


> For anybody who was confused (as I was), "hortensia" is another name
> for what I have always called "hydrangea."

Yep!

--
Julien ÉLIE

« Après la clairière d'attente, on entre dans la hutte
de consultation. » (Astérix)